HashFam
HashFam (styled #Fam) was an animated sitcom that aired on Comedy Central, created by Elliot Strange. The show last from April to May of 2012 for fourteen episodes before ending due to low ratings and Dane Cook leaving the show amidst a staff-feud. Mike Reiss and Mike Scully worked as writers/producers on the show. It was originally going to air on MTV2 with a pilot being made in 2006, but it was rejected due to the show not fitting with the network's programming style. It's no longer airing anywhere, but the entire series was released on iTunes a year after. Plot The show is a parody of autobiographical shows. It centers on a fictionalized comedian Morris Hash returning to his family after a five year absence, and attempts to quell the vitriol his children have for him while adjusting to their newly-adopted conservative lifestyle. Episodes begin and end with a brief stand-up performance, and the animated segments took up the remainder. Style The show utilizes a monochromatic color-scheme, with a heavy usage of black, white and various shades of red. The show also uses a distorted art-style and roughly-sketched shapes. The images become more distorted when the episode takes a dark direction or when someone's having an outburst. Strange claims the limited color-pallette was done to account for production time and to keep the character designs simple. Characters * Morris Hash (Dane Cook): The main protagonist. Morris is a former stant-up comedian who disowned his own children years ago to date a Ugandan supermodel, but left her after discovering she was a pre-op transvestite. He has since got back into their lives in an attempt to be part of their circle again. Even with clear signs of vitriol from his own children, his naive dialect and ego prevent him from realizing they hate him. * Meredith Hash (Mo Collins): The main caretaker of the Hash household following Morris' departure. She tends to be overly-generous, which is why she allows Morris to stay with the family even though she's seeing different people. Meredith is sexually depraved and the possible main reason she lets Morris stay is to sedate her sexual urges, but the rest of the time she keeps them clandestine from her children and her friends. Her kids don't think of her too highly, as she tends to assume things and get caught in her own lies. * Melvin, Martin, Marvin Hash (Nick Kroll, T.J. Miller and Justin Long respectively): The eldest brothers in the family, each aged 19. Each diverge on their interests, Melvin prefers to focus on his studies, but is also fairly rebellious, especially against Morris (namely in shaving his head and ditching important family milestones (save for those involving his siblings.) Martin is a major sports fan and is a known jock, but not in the same vein as a typical one. Marvin is the most intelligent of the three, but somehow, he lacks common sense. Each hang out with each other constantly, and even room together in the college they go to, usually to get away from Morris. * Molly Hash (Elizabeth Gillies): The eldest sister, aged 17. She suffers from immense anger issues which come about over minor annoyances. Molly exploits online challenges to obtain e-fame which have varying forms of success. * Mel Hash (Sarah Hyland): The second eldest sister, aged 16. She tends to argue a lot with Molly over minor things. Mel's more of a tomboy and is a prevalent gamer who streams gameplay videos, often when she isn't with the rest of her family and for a time she was the source of the family's income until her accounts were hacked. She also tends to serve as a substitute patriarch, something she did in her father's absence. * Mortimer Hash (Brian Poeshn): Aged 15. He lacks self-esteem and often feels threatened by his eldest siblings due to him assuming they'd do bad things to him. Ever since the eldest brothers departed, Morris seems to have latched onto him. Mortimer is often the victim of circumstance, where he receives the worst of something he indirectly had a part in, and as a result, he tends to be a loner. * Marie Hash (Olivia Hack): Born a few months after Mortimer. She is gloomy and she is the most distant from her family, save for Mortimer. Morris seems to have been the hardest on her, which is what led to her distant dialect. Marie is very antisocial and is scornful toward having to interact with anyone outside of her family. She and Mortimer seem to be the closest, as each would talk about their issues and plan together. * Morgan Hash (Kristen Schaal): Aged 14. Morgan is overweight, unattractive and she rarely interacts with her family. Morgan's a staunch conservative an advocate for free speech. It's said that Morgan was the one who introduced the family's traditional lifestyle after Morris departed. Her weight might've been brought about from mental abuse and she saw eating as a form of comfort. * Marcy Hash (Aubrey Plaza): Aged 6. She is best identified by her bunny pajamas and her impish tendencies. Her other siblings show no concern because her mischief is usually at the expense of Morris. Marcy tends to be overly-dramatic and treat everything like it's more serious than it needs to be. Episodes Reception The show received mixed reviews from critics. The show was mainly criticized by liberal viewers due to the show often attacking progressive themes and then president Barack Obama. Feud With Dane Cook Another prime criticism against the show was the fact that the material was entierly writer/producer controlled, making the material present ingenuine. Star of the series Dane Cook didn't write his own comedy material, Reiss, Scully and Strange were behind it. Cook's ideas were often rejected or reworked before the episode received final approval from the network. To prevent Cook from leaving, Scully and Reiss offered to let him produce the series under his own vanity card. Overtime, Cook's ideas kept getting retooled/rejected and it culminated in the staff revealing that Cook's material wasn't good enough. Infuriated, he left the show and it led to the series getting cancelled outright since they couldn't find a suitable replacement for Cook.